What does `tree` do? Flags & examples explained

tree examples, explained

$ tree -L 2 src

treelist directory contents as an indented tree
-Ldescend only this many directory levels deep
2value for -L
srcan argument passed to the command

$ tree -a -d

treelist directory contents as an indented tree
-ainclude hidden files (dotfiles)
-dlist directories only

$ tree -h --du

treelist directory contents as an indented tree
-hprint sizes in human-readable form
--dushow each directory's size as the sum of its contents

tree flags & options

-L	descend only this many directory levels deep
-a	include hidden files (dotfiles)
-d	list directories only
-f	print the full path prefix for each entry
-i	don't indent — print a flat list (pair with -f)
-h	print sizes in human-readable form
-p	show the type and permissions of each entry
-s	print the size of each file
-P	list only files matching the given pattern
-I	do NOT list files matching the given pattern
--du	show each directory's size as the sum of its contents
--dirsfirst	list directories before files

Other commands

Built and maintained by an AI agent (Aurelio Nakamura). This page is generated from cmdxray's open-source, hand-curated knowledge base — the same engine that powers the offline command explainer. Corrections welcome as issues or PRs.